 | vs. |  |
TRINITY INTERNATIONAL TROJANS (17-11) vs. MARANATHA BAPTIST (Wisc.) SABERCATS
Tuesday, February 16 | 6:30 p.m.
Van Dixhorn Arena | Deerfield, Ill. | vs. |  |
TRINITY INTERNATIONAL TROJANS (17-11, 10-9 CCAC) vs. No. 15 ROBERT MORRIS EAGLES (21-7, 14-4 CCAC)
Saturday, February 20 | 7:30 p.m. | Senior Night
Van Dixhorn Arena | Deerfield, Ill.
Quick Notes
• The final week of the regular season is here, as Trinity International looks to finish on a high note with a pair of home games. The Trojans will host Maranatha Baptist (Wisc.) in non-conference play Tuesday night, before taking on No. 15 Robert Morris on Senior Night this Saturday.
• Streaming video will be available for both games, at TIUTrojans.com.
• Entering play this week, the Trojans are in a tie for sixth place in the CCAC standings, with a 10-9 record in league play. Trinity is tied with Indiana-South Bend, and hold the tiebreaker over the Titans thanks to their 82-72 win on Jan. 30.
• As a team, the Trojans rank 10th in the NAIA with 252 total steals this season, and are also 16th nationally with 9.0 steals per game.
• Six players are currently averaging double figures for the Trojans, led by Cory Windle's 17.0 points per game. Grant Corsi (15.1 ppg), Zach Kirschbaum (13.7), Jeremy Carlyle (12.3), Thomas Amrine (10.9), and James Glass (10.5) are also in double figures at this point in the season.
• Junior forward Zach Kirschbaum is the CCAC leader in rebounds, averaging 10.5 per game, and is tied for the conference lead in blocks with teammate Henry French, at 1.7 per game. With 13.7 points per game, Kirschbaum is the only player in the conference to be averaging a double-double, and has a CCAC-best 14 double-doubles this year.
• TIU ranks 2nd in the CCAC, averaging 82.5 points per game, while Robert Morris leads the league with 84.3 points per contest. NCAA Division III and NCCAA Division II member Maranatha Baptist have averaged 66.8 points per game this season.
• Defensively, TIU is 14th in the CCAC with 78.8 points allowed per game; RMU sits 10th in the league, allowing 75.9 points per game. Maranatha is allowed 72.9 points on average to their opponents.
• Trinity posted a five-game winning streak before taking a loss at No. 2 St. Francis on Jan. 23, their longest streak of the season. After upsetting No. 15 Robert Morris last on Jan. 20 for their fifth victory in a row, the Trojans briefly held the longest win streak in the CCAC.
• The Trojans hold a 2-2 mark over ranked opponents this year; Trinity won two straight over ranked opponents on Jan. 16-20, with victories over No. 14 Olivet Nazarene, and at No. 15 Robert Morris.
• The Sabercats come to Deerfield after suffering a 61-46 loss at Judson, snapping a three-game win streak. Maranatha have a 2-2 record against common opponents with TIU, picking up wins over Lincoln Christian and Illinois Tech, but dropping matchups with the Trojans' CCAC rivals Judson and Purdue-North Central.
• Robert Morris have two big conference games this week, beginning with a home contest against Cardinal Stritch before the Eagles' trip to Van Dixhorn Arena on Saturday. RMU are currently tied for the top spot in the CCAC North Division, and can clinch an automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament by winning out.
• RMU had a three-game win streak snapped on Saturday with a road loss to St. Ambrose. The Eagles are 4-2 since Trinity's road win on Jan. 20.
• Trinity are currently 10-9 in league play, good for a tie for 6th in the CCAC standings. Due to tiebreakers, if the season ended today the Trojans would claim the 6th seed in the CCAC Tournament, matching up with the current No. 3 seed, Robert Morris. The CCAC Tournament tips off Feb. 24.
• A win for the Trojans this week would be the team's 18th of the season, and the 30th victory so far between 2014-16, marking the most wins over a two-year period for TIU since 2005-07 (16 wins in '05-'06, 14 in '06-'07).
• Trinity's win over Roosevelt on Feb. 6 clinched a winning record, the program's first since the 1998-99 season, a span of 17 seasons.
Series History vs. Maranatha Baptist
• Tuesday marks the first-ever meeting between Trinity and Maranatha since the 2003-04 season.
• The Trojans are 10-5 over that time span in non-conference games against opponents from the state of Wisconsin.
Series History vs. RMU
• After dropping the first seven meetings with Robert Morris since the series began in 2008, the Trojans have claimed two straight victories, including the 66-64 win in Arlington Heights on Jan. 20 earlier this year.
• A win on Saturday would be the first-ever season sweep for TIU over Robert Morris, and would make the Eagles the fourth CCAC North Division opponent to be swept by Trinity in 2015-16 (Cardinal Stritch, Judson, & Roosevelt)
Last Time Out vs. Robert Morris
• For the second time five days, Trinity recorded an upset victory over a nationally-ranked program, as the Trojans held on for a 66-64 road win over the No. 15 Robert Morris Eagles on Jan. 20.
• Junior forward Zach Kirschbaum led the way with his sixth straight double-double, finishing with 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Three Trojans finished in double figures in the win, with Grant Corsi collecting 15 points and Thomas Amrine posting 11 points, including a 3-for-6 performance from long range.
• The Trojans held a lead until the 15:49 mark of the second half, when RMU's Corey McCrary hit a jumper to put the Eagles in front 38-37. Robert Morris would lead by as much as six midway through the second, until a 14-4 run from TIU, capped with a four-point play from Greg Carlyle, gave the Trojans a 58-54 lead with 8:04 to play.Trinity would go up by six moments later, and would hold off the Eagles by allowing just one field goal over the final four and a half minutes.
National Leaders
• The Trojans rank among the top 20 in NAIA-II in total steals (10th, 252), total blocks (13th, 116), steals per game (16th, 9.0), blocks per game (16th, 4.1) and turnover margin (20th, +2.6).
• On the offensive end, TIU ranks 36th in scoring average, thanks in large part to a total of 245 three-pointers made this season, 21st-best in the NAIA.
• The Trojans rank among the NAIA's top 50 teams in all five major categories: total points (23rd, 2,311), rebounds (24th, 1,106), assists (48th, 409), steals (10th, 252), and blocks (13th, 116).
Career Milestone
• Senior shooting guard Thomas Amrine has collected 960 points during his Trojans career, just 40 shy of joining the 1,000-point club.
• Amrine would become the 19th player in Trinity International history to reach 1,000 points.
• Last season, Trinity had two of the 18 previous 1,000-point scorers on the same team, in center Nate Ball, and guard Dillon Wadsack.
• Ball finished his Trojans career 13th on the program's all-time scoring list, with 1,304 career points. Wadsack is 14th, with 1,170 points.
Trojans in the Polls
• Trinity International has appeared in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll 21 times in program history, but not since the 1997-98 campaign.
• Trojans's last ranking came on Jan. 6, 1998, when the Trojans came in at No. 20.
• The highest ranking in program history was during the 1995-96 season, when Trinity was at No. 3 in the Jan. 22, 1996 poll.
Magic Number
• On the defensive end of the court this season, the 80-point mark seems to be the key for a Trojan victory. Fifteen times this season, TIU has held their opponents to under 80 points, and the Trojans have gone 15-1 in those games. When allowing 80 or more points, Trinity has only two wins in 12 tries, with one of those victories coming in the double-overtime win at Illinois Tech on Jan. 12.
• In the two seasons of the Roberts era, Trinity holds a 27-5 mark when their opponents score less than 80 points, and a 3-23 record when the other side hits the 80-point plateau.
New Signing
• The Trinity International men's basketball program received a major boost in the 2016 recruiting class, when the Trojans announced the signing of Mark Smith, a 6-7 forward from Riverside-Brookfield High School (Riverside, Ill).
• Smith is a two-year starter for Riverside-Brookfield and Head Coach Tom McCloskey. The Bulldogs are currently ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press Illinois High School Rankings at the 4A level. Smith has his squad off to a great start this season, as the Bulldogs sit at 6-1, with the only blemish a shorthanded loss to Gonzaga College HS out of Washington, D.C., the 23rd-ranked team in the USA Today National Rankings.
